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IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation

Shortwave Ultrahigh-Sensitivity Rydberg Atomic Electric Field Sensing Based on a Subminiature Resonator

Ruiqi Mao, Yi Lin, Aojie Zhou, Kai Yang, Yunqi Fu

Published Aug 13, 2024• 17 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Rydberg atomic electric field sensors have attracted the attention of international researchers due to their powerful electric field measurement capabilities. Especially in the shortwave (SW) frequency band (3–30 MHz), using only millimeter-level sensors to receive SW signals is undoubtedly attractive. However, due to the extremely difficult excitation of the Rydberg atoms that resonate with the SW frequency, the sensitivity of the Rydberg atoms SW measurement is low. Here, we report that a method to improve the SW sensitivity by using an SW resonator, which is extremely small in electrical size ($0.0043\lambda \times 0.0035\lambda \times 0.007\lambda $), can achieve continuous resonant frequency coverage from 9.365 to 10.223 MHz and can increase the sensitivity of electric field measurement by a factor of 8633. In the state of far off-resonant, we have achieved a detectable field strength as low as$2.41~\mu $V/m with a sensitivity of$1.71~\mu $V/mHz$^{1/2}$using the heterodyne Rydberg atom-based mixer method, which realizes ultrahigh-sensitivity measurement of SWs. In addition, for the first time outside the laboratory, we directly received an amplitude-modulated broadcast signal with 880 km (the straight-line distance between Changsha and Baoji) at 9.81 MHz in the form of a subminiature resonator combined with a Rydberg field probe (RFP), which verified the powerful ability of this sensing scheme.

DOI
10.1109/tap.2024.3439862

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Rydberg atomic electric field sensors have attracted the attention of international researchers due to their powerful electric field measurement capabilities. Especially in the shortwave (SW) frequency band (3–30 MHz), using only millimeter-level sensors to receive SW signals is undoubtedly attractive. However, due to the extremely difficult excitation of the Rydberg atoms that resonate with the SW frequency, the sensitivity of the Rydberg atoms SW measurement is low. Here, we report that a method to improve the SW sensitivity by using an SW resonator, which is extremely small in electrical size (0.0043λ×0.0035λ×0.007λ0.0043\lambda \times 0.0035\lambda \times 0.007\lambda 0.0043λ×0.0035λ×0.007λ), can achieve continuous resonant frequency coverage from 9.365 to 10.223 MHz and can increase the sensitivity of electric field measurement by a factor of 8633. In the state of far off-resonant, we have achieved a detectable field strength as low as2.41 μ2.41~\mu 2.41 μV/m with a sensitivity of1.71 μ1.71~\mu 1.71 μV/mHz1/2^{1/2}1/2using the heterodyne Rydberg atom-based mixer method, which realizes ultrahigh-sensitivity measurement of SWs. In addition, for the first time outside the laboratory, we directly received an amplitude-modulated broadcast signal with 880 km (the straight-line distance between Changsha and Baoji) at 9.81 MHz in the form of a subminiature resonator combined with a Rydberg field probe (RFP), which verified the powerful ability of this sensing scheme.
Rydberg atomic electric-field sensors, under the framework of optical excitation and readout, can overcome the size-to-wavelength constraint imposed by the Chu limit. However, their sensitivity for decametric-wavelength shortwave electric fields is substantially lower than that for microwave ones, stemming from the off-resonant nature of low-frequency signals with Rydberg transitions. Here, we demonstrate a high-sensitivity heterodyne shortwave sensor based on microwave-dressed Rydberg atoms, leveraging precisely modulated Floquet sidebands. Around local- and microwave-field-engineered Floquet sidebands, the steep response gradient, arising from the enhanced atom-shortwave interaction through additionally created coherent channels, induces pronounced amplification of the heterodyne intermediate-frequency signal. As a result, compared to the same atomic heterodyne setup without microwave modulation, such Floquet-sideband-enhanced shortwave measurement boosts the sensitivity by four orders of magnitude, yielding a sensitivity of -122.7 dBm/Hz for shortwave at 30 MHz. This work offers a potential route to high-sensitive portable shortwave receivers in radio astronomy, radar and long-distance communications.
High-sensitivity amplitude and frequency detection of microwave electric fields is of significant importance in various fields, including communications, microwave quantum technology, aerospace, medicine, and meteorology. Rydberg atom-based sensors promise traceable standards and high sensitivity for detecting weak electric fields and enhancing sensing sensitivity, mainly by using superheterodyne technology and resonant structures. Detecting high-frequency (HF) band fields with high sensitivity using Rydberg atom sensors is a significant challenge due to the requirement of exciting atoms to extremely high energy states for resonant detection. We demonstrate the off-resonant Rydberg atomic superheterodyne architecture with additional resonators for greatly enhancing the sensing sensitivity to HF band fields. In this approach, we propose a miniaturized square spiral resonator with an electrical size of$0.011~\lambda $at 15.54 MHz. To reduce the electric-field-screening effect of the adsorption of alkali metal atoms, we use a monocrystalline sapphire cesium (Cs) vapor cell. By utilizing the off-resonant alternating current (ac) Stark effect, the initial sensitivity of the Rydberg atom sensor without the resonator is measured to be10.39 μV/cmHz10.39~\mu \text {V/cm}\sqrt {\text {Hz}}10.39 μV/cmHz​at room temperature. With the addition of the miniaturized square spiral resonator, the sensitivity significantly improved to2.60 nV/cmHz2.60~\text {nV/cm}\sqrt {\text {Hz}}2.60 nV/cmHz​, which has been inaccessible so far with atomic sensors. Here, we provide an enhancement of 72 dB, which is three orders of magnitude improvement in sensitivity than when the resonator is not used. This enhancement resonator extends Rydberg atomic high-sensitivity sensing to the HF band and shows great potential, especially in shortwave radio reception.
Rydberg atoms have great potential in electric field measurement and have an advantage with a large frequency bandwidth from the kHz to the THz scale. However, the sensitivity for measuring a weak MHz electric field signal is limited by the spectroscopic resolution, because the weak electric field induces only a small perturbation of the population and energy-level shift of the Rydberg atoms. Here, we report highly sensitive measurement of a weak MHz electric field using electromagnetically induced transparency with Rydberg atoms in a thermal atomic system. Using the heterodyne method on a 30-MHz electric field, we successfully measure the minimum electric field strength to be $37.3\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{V}/\mathrm{cm}$ with a sensitivity up to $\ensuremath{-}65$ dBm/Hz and a linear dynamic range over 65 dB. Additionally, we measure an amplitude-modulated signal and demodulate the signal with a fidelity over 98%. This work extends the sensitivity of atomic sensors for measuring MHz electric fields, which advances atomic electric field-sensing technology.
There is an inherent trade-off in shortwave (SW) signal reception between achieving wide operational bandwidth and high radio sensitivity. Advances in SW radio reception hold significant potential for applications in communications, broadcasting, and over-the-horizon radar. Here, we demonstrate a proof-of-concept Rydberg SW receiver integrated with the frequency-hopping technique, achieving a highly sensitive reception compatible with large bandwidth. By shifting a carrier across the whole SW band, the atomic communication maintains a stable and high data capacity far beyond the Chu–Harrington limit. The outcomes of our work facilitate the development of Rydberg atom-based RF field sensing and communication.
Rydberg atoms have emerged as a versatile and efficient platform for high-sensitivity quantum sensing of free-space electric fields, with remarkable progress in detecting low-frequency signals. To date, low-frequency Rydberg receivers have relied on a constant bias field, typically realized via intra-cell electrodes or Rydberg plasmas generated by photoelectric effects or inter-atomic interactions. While these approaches improve sensitivity, they suffer from inherent challenges in calibration, long-term stability, and robustness, hindering practical deployment. Here, we propose, design, and experimentally demonstrate a quantum sensing scheme for low-frequency electric signals using modulated auxiliary fields in Rydberg atoms. Unlike conventional methods that employ external DC electric fields that are often fully shielded by adsorbed atom layers on the cell walls, we introduce an AC-field modulation strategy. The incoming low-frequency signal mixes with the auxiliary field, and together they induce Stark shifts of the Rydberg level. These shifts are mapped onto the probe laser via electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), in a manner analogous to heterodyne detection. We demonstrate a sensitivity of 7.5±2.6 μV/(cm⋅Hz1/2)7.5 \pm 2.6~\mathrm{μV/(cm\cdot Hz^{1/2})}7.5±2.6 μV/(cm⋅Hz1/2) at 5 kHz and a minimal detectable field of 0.26±0.04 μV/cm0.26 \pm 0.04~\mathrm{μV/cm}0.26±0.04 μV/cm with an integration time of 1000 s. Furthermore, we extend this approach to systematically analyze the performance of generalized auxiliary fields containing multiple frequency components. By virtue of modulated auxiliary field and quantum frequency mixing, our results establish a robust and systematic framework for quantum sensing of low-frequency electric fields with Rydberg atoms, offering improved sensitivity, stability, and immunity to environmental drifts.
We present enhanced sensing of a radio frequency (RF) electric field (E-field) by the combined polarizability of Rydberg atoms and the optimized local oscillator (LO) field of a superheterodyne receiver. Our modified theoretical model reveals the dependencies of the sensitivity of E-field amplitude measurement on the polarizability of Rydberg states and the strength of the LO field. The enhanced sensitivities of the megahertz (MHz) E-field are demonstrated at the optimal LO field for three different Rydberg states 43D5/2{\rm 43D}_{5/2}43D5/2​, 60S1/2{\rm 60S}_{1/2}60S1/2​, and 90S1/2{\rm 90S}_{1/2}90S1/2​. The sensitivity of 63 MHz for the 90S1/2{\rm 90S}_{1/2}90S1/2​ state reaches 9.6 ×10−5 V/m/Hz\times 10^{-5}\rm \,V/m/\sqrt {Hz}×10−5V/m/Hz​, which is approximately an order of magnitude higher than those already published. This result closely approaches the sensitivity limit of a 1 cm passive dipole antenna without using an impedance matching network. This atomic sensor based on the Rydberg Stark effect with heterodyne technique is expected to boost an alternative solution to electric dipole antennas.